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I bought the prettiest little “freshly dug!” (I could not resist this sign) red potatoes at the market last week. They’re sweet, creamy and cute and need almost nothing to make them welcome on any table — roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper or boiled until tender and tossed cold with a vinaigrette, they’re heaven.

But if I were the kind of person who even knew when to leave well enough alone, what would we ever have to talk about? And so I sifted around my endless lists of things I think I might want to cook and landed on what has to be the most pretentious recipe I’ve ever read. I’m know, I really should just focus on the positive (and I will, soon) but seriously: instead of water in the pastry crust, it calls for San Pellegrino, and instead of butter, it calls for Plugrá, an ultra-creamy European butter. Here I had been operating under the assumption that the goal of recipes were to encourage home cooks, not discourage those who don’t keep imported Italian mineral water around for pie doughs, silly me. Harrumph!

Huffiness aside, while I have no doubt that, well, at least the European butter would raise this tart’s deliciousness to even higher levels, I can assure you that it is unwaveringly tasty with New York City tap water and store brand butter. Phew. And really, how could it not be? It has rings of red skinned potatoes, crumbles of bubbled and toasty blue cheese, cream, an egg yolk, a butter dough and a sprinkling of sea salt and fresh herbs. It manages to take something as humble as a boiling potato and cook it in a manner that makes French fries almost look like health food. I respect that. Especially with a green salad; we’re all about balance around here, after all.

Blue Cheese and Red Potato Tart
Adapted in a bunch of ways from Gourmet

I changed a slew of things: I opted out of the San Pellegrino and Plugrá, though you don’t need to if you’re feeling fancy. I swapped in my favorite quiche crust these days, which barely shrinks and manages to stay sturdy even without par-baking first. I made one large tart, rather than the 6 tartlets the original recipe called for, added more potatoes to compensate, and swapped tarragon (what I had on hand) for the suggested thyme and rosemary but think any herb you enjoy eating with potatoes and cheese would work.

One note: This is not a quiche. The filling will remain soft and custard-like after baked, not firm up like most egg fillings. I liked this texture; it was a little different but wanted to give a heads-up that the recipe hasn’t gone wrong if your potatoes can still be nudged a little after baking.

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium saucepan, cover potato slices with water by two inches. Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. If the potatoes don’t seem very dry, pat them dry with towels.

Arrange potato slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles around the tart pan. Sprinkle blue cheese over potatoes. Whisk cream and egg yolk together and pour into tart shell, then sprinkle tart with herbs of your choice and salt.

Bake tart on a baking sheet until bubbling and golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on rack and serve warm or cold. With a big green salad, for balance.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch and salt. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender, fork or two knives until it is in very tiny bits. Add one egg and mix with a fork until a dough forms. If this does not happen easily, toss it out onto a counter and knead it together. This dough is rather tough but with a little elbow grease, it does come together nicely.

This dough can also be made a food processor, or in a stand mixer, though I’ve only tried it in a food processor.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle. Place the dough in a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan and press to remove any air bubbles. Level the edges, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Proceed with a filling of your choice, no parbaking required.

Oh man–I have a bunch of small CSA potatoes that would love to be housed in that shell . . . of course, they would be wonderful on their own, but I don’t know if I can resist this combination of cheese, butter, cream, and herbs . . . will report back!

This looks amazing! I’m always looking for ways to use blue cheese that aren’t too overpowering and I can’t ever seem to get enough potatoes. I definitely would have skipped right over this recipe in Gourmet with the fussiness of the ingredients, but now I’m undoubtedly going to have to try it!

I’ve never tasted red potatoes. I love how you can put them in the tart with their skins still on. I have to try this tart. I’m a sucker for blue cheese. Jacob is becoming quite the versatile eater. Radishes I see :)
Magda

Blue cheese subs — Not to be too simplistic, but seriously, use any cheese you prefer. I’ve been on a little bit of a fontina kick lately because it melts really nicely, it might be fun. But feta/goat/gruyere/baby swiss could all be tasty. Have fun with it!

Susan — Whoops. That was 1/4 pound (now fixed) which should be approximately 3/4 cup crumbled.

JanetP — I just heard today! I don’t have a full opinion yet because I think I got distracted before finishing the YouTube video about it (not a good sign, I guess) but I’m not feeling it. That team was amazing and they’re dispersed elsewhere now. Reichl was key to the tone of the magazine.

I happen to be at the local market right now hosting a weekly CSA pick up site. This week we have a nice box of new red potatoes fresh from the farm in our CSA box. I happen to open my computer and see your potato blue cheese tart! So now I am going to pick up some of my fave local blue cheese and have this lovely tart!

my dad would be very proud of your “freshly dug” comment. i was back in NC visiting last week and he almost forced me to take some freshly dug NC red potatoes from my aunt’s garden. they are the best potatoes around, but i worried about getting them past security since i wasnt checking luggage :)

This with gruyere would be heaven for me! Deb I should tell you that upon finding your site a few months ago my new favorite and all consuming thing to do is click the surprise me tab on the website (I can go for hours). I have stopped booking marking recipes (as I soon realized I was booking marking everything). I love to cook but lack the confidence for baking, we’re moving into a new house in a few days (as we speak I’m suppose to be packing) so my goal upon being blessed with a bigger kitchen and new mix-master is to get baking! Thanks for all the inspiration!

Must be potato day because I just posted about sweet potatoes! I received a tart pan as a gift so this will go on my to cook list. You know, when I have freshly dug potatoes. I assure you in all seriousness that will be soon.

The tart looks excellent. I imagine that you could mix some herbs or other seasonings into the crust too. I like savory crusts for that very reason. I don’t know what pellagrino is (I’ll look it up) but I can imagine using a different liquid to make the crust..it could be a nice flavor addition. I’m going to have to play around with that idea soon. Hmmm…

Mineral water? Whatever. But have you found your way to the Cook’s Illustrated vodka pie crust yet? It will rock your world. (And subbing even just a 1/4 of whole wheat flour makes an awesome quiche crust.)

Carb addict that I am, this looks heavenly. Because I don’t (yet) have a tart pan, do you think that a pie plate, deep dish, if necessary, would work in a pinch?
Deb+Alex=perfectly adorable Jacob…seriously, his cute factor is almost painful. : )

Not to be “that girl”, but you’ve got Plugra misspelled twice :) I only mention it because you usually like to catch typos…
Definitely bookmarking this one to make with the first batch of Maine new potatoes at my in-laws in a few weeks!

Oh, I am excited to try. I just made my first tart tonight- zucchini, feta and mint- delicious! I am trying to work with veggies from our community garden plot. We are suppose to be digging potatoes this weekend, perfect timing.

I actually really don’t like potatoes. Maybe it’s just the potatoes here in China, which are almost flavourless and have a gross, starchy texture. Blergh. But those farmer’s market red potatoes certainly do sound great! And so pretty :D

Wow!! Fresh potatoes from the farmers market are so good. You don’ t have to do much to make them sing… this tart must be to die for… hmmmm… cheese and potoatos in a fancy pants crust. I love it! Thank you for sharing.

Don’t boil these beautiful potatoes! Steam them in just enough water that the pan will not boil dry. You don’t even need a rack. Just boil a bit of water, add potatoes, cover the pan and steam gently in medium to low heat.

This works great for corn on the cob too. No need to bring a giant pot of water to boiling. An inch or so of water is plenty.

This looks fantastic – I’m of the opinion that there’s very little that blue cheese can’t make better. Did you use dolce or piccante blue cheese? I feel like dolce is so much better for cooking with (piccante is best for salads and other cold preparations, no?)

That tart looks so yum – pastry, potato & cheese, whats not to love in that!! Yesterday I made your cheese straws which were the ‘one year ago’ recipe following your pickles post, and Deb you are so right – they don’t last long at a party….will definately be making them again.

Long time reader of your blog, first time commenter. Getting lost in a sea of comments can’t even stop me now because this looks absolutely delicious! I visit Smitten Kitchen whenever I’m feeling creatively blocked. Thanks!

I couldn’t resist the irony of this (originally) pretentious recipe and the fact that I made your Brown Butter Salted Rice Krispy Treats last weekend. The extra butter and the little bit of salt really delivers flavor. Sooo worth it. Thanks.

When I came across this recipe, the Pellagrino was not odd to me at all. My favorite pancake batter is made with club soda, the carbonation gives it such a light flaky texture that doesn’t weigh down like milk will. I’m sure that the pellagrina would make it just a tad more flaky! I am also all for adding herbs to the tart crust as well, Making the crust as flavorful as the filling.

I fell for the same “freshly dug” sign at my farmer’s market, and was a little dismayed when some of the pretty skin washed off along with the bits of dirt. But these potatoes actually had real flavor. Steamed, in a Potato Plus Salad with steamed farmer’s market young fennel bulbs and kohlrabi, with a light dressing of onions, olive oil, vinegar, whatever herbs we had on our porch, applied to the warm veg, and a dash of mayo once the mixture had cooled and the flavors had melded. My kids don’t usually like potato salad. This one disappeared in a flash!

Love your way with food, words, photos, etc. This is one of my regular visits to make when looking to be inspired to make something that is better than the norm. I’ve been using this crust once a week (I’m serious) since your quiche lorraine post (October). I love how I don’t have to bake it first, cutting my prep time by a little, and giving me a little “this’ll be a snap” when trying to get ready to tackle dinner for my family. again. And, I had to laugh when perusing the comment guidelines: people are giving unsolicited parenting advice? It seems like the baby stage is the worst for that type of thing. I think the advice from strangers tapers off once they get older. Hang in there!

This looks absolutely stellar, as always. I love a new way to eat potatoes, cheese, and eggs! A pastry crust to boot! Awesome, the radish pic is, of course, priceless. I am always amazed with your site.

Regarding the ceramic dishes, Real Simple just featured a nearly identical item in either the May or June magazine, but I’ve already passed my copies along and don’t remember the vendor. Any other Real Simple readers out there? They were toward the beginning of the magazine and referred to as “cheeky” or “a throwback” or something along those lines.

I made this today and it was really great. Would I be shot for mentioning that I patted the dough in the pan because I didn’t have time to roll it out, and that I used canned milk in place of the cream because that’s what I had on hand?

The past two recipes I’ve made from your blog have been insanely good – I’m making this next! I have some onions I want to use up. If I put them on top, will they burn? I was thinking of caramelizing them first…

Good God! That looks fabulous! I am pregnant and can’t eat the blue cheese and my list of things to eat after this baby is born is quickly eclipsing any realistic level of cooking that will be happening in my house for quite some time so, can you do a favor for a stranger/ big fan? Will you tag this one as a lovely Thanksgiving side dish so when I come out of my repressed diet pregnancy fog I can find it again? I think it would be a lovely addition to a holiday table!

Sadie — I ate cooked unpasteurized cheeses all of the time, fairly certain that the heat killed any wayward stuff. Then again, I also had caffeine and um… yeah, I’m probably not the person to take knocked-up eating advice from…

Wait… you are right, if it is cooked I can totally eat it! I swear this baby is eating my brain! I’ll pick some up tomorrow while I am out getting a latte! That said, I do think it would be a fabulous replacement for mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving…

This was SO EASY!! I had a moment where I was ready to get all the pots and mixing bowls out, but I read on and realized… that’s it! It was a huge crowd pleaser. Also, I totally LOL’d at “San Pellegrino… or tap water”.

i made this last night as part of the first meal i ever made for my future mother-in-law–the crust came together really easily for me, just using a fork as a pastry cutter, and the rest of the tart seemed to just fall into place. I can’t find red potatoes where i am, so i just used tiny russet potatoes. Deeeelicious! and, my first savory tart! i can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today.

I just made a pizza out of similar stuff — boiled potatoes (leftover from hash brown plans) and blue cheese, but also a sprinkling of walnuts and a hefty tangle of oh-so-cute garlic scapes. Highly recommended for a slightly lighter, seasonal spin on this combo.

I’m one of those snobs who won’t touch NYC tap water. I’ve seen where it comes from, as I live five minutes from the reservoir.
*shudders*
I know it’s filtered and all that, but it still scares me. THERE ARE DUCKS.

I made this last week and it was excellent. However, I ended up with 2 layers of potatoes. When I make it again I’ll add extra blue cheese between the layers. Also, my filling was a little runny like Kathleen above. Overall, fantastic dish!

I realise this is a little late but I made this the night I moved into my new house because by some kind of devine intervention I happened to have all the ingredientss handy.I also added a very fine scraping of caramelized onions in the bottom of the tart shell. I am ashamed to say I nearly ate the whole thing by myself. Even my blue cheese hating nephew & boyfriend came sniffing after it for a bite.

I just made this tart and it was overall very delicious. A few things I thought I would point out:

1. The crust totally stuck to the tart pan. I don’t know if I should have sprayed it, or if it was just because I let it cool too long in the pan without removing the sides.
2. I used half and half instead of heavy cream and it was still very rich.
3. I used less blue cheese than the recipe called for and I regretted it…don’t skimp on the cheese!

I know this is an old post, but Deb, I <3 your site!! This is the third recipe I have tried this month, and I am smitten! We are having a French food day at work this week, and this will be my contribution :)

Made this last night. It was very good, thanks for the recipe! I used a 13 inch tart pan and one full egg instead of just an egg yolk. The baking sheet under the tart pan was a life saver because apparently my crust leaked!

made this tonight and wow, it’s amazing. i made it half blue cheese, half emmantaler (for my guy who isn’t so crazy about the blue cheese) and ate about half of the tart by myself already. ;)

i just moved to la paz, bolivia where we’re at a height of about 13,000 ft. above sea level and this was my first successful baking experiment, hooray! to account for the high-altitude baking, i put two eggs in for the dough, plus a splash of water and for the filling, i put the whole egg in and not just the yolk.

Can you make the dough ahead of time? I have a hard time doing dough without my beloved kitchenaid so I was thinking of making it early in the day before I head to a cabin for the evening. If I keep it refrigerated will it stay good?

Made this for diner tonight with some grilled steak and it was delish! The neighbors brought over some home grown red potatoes and I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I’m sharing it on your behalf with all my friends =)

I made this today and it was fantastic!! The tart crust stayed dry on the bottom despite the cream! The only thing I changed was that I added some corn starch to the heavy cream and whipped it with the egg until it was a little fluffy. Delicious!

Just made this tart last night to bring to a dinner party and it was a huge success! I was so pleasantly surprised at how easy the dough was to handle and as promised there was no shrinkage. I will be making this again soon.

Made this recipe last night and it was wonderful. I even made the dough, and I am not a baking kinda gal. I may be the party-pooper here, but I didn’t find that the tart base added anything to the wonderful wonderful taste of the potatoes/cheese/cream. In my opinion, it might even have taken away something. I’ll definitely make it again but without the tart. I guess like a tian, or some kind of gratin. Still, it was a great supper!

going to make this tomorrow for my husbands staff. anything with small local red potatoes and hunks of Bleu are sure to please anyone. I used to order a pizza at Escape from New York Pizza in SF. ” you say potato” it was called…roasted garlic red potatoes and pesto…oh man, I can still taste it…can’t wait to try your tart.

Hi Deb! Do you think this could work as tartlets? Or maybe as lil’ galettes? It seems straightforward enough to make this smaller, but I hate it when I make tarts into tartlets and the filling is either too overwhelming or there ratios don’t work. Thaks for sharing!

My friend and I made this as part of our first 5 Dollar 5-Course Dinner for some of our friends (we’re seniors in high school) and it turned out amazingly well! It was rich and delicious and so simple to make. We also added some sauteed mushrooms for another pop of flavor. I will definitely make this many times again.

The boyfriend hates blue cheese. So I make sure to practically gorge on it (as much as one could) when he’s not around. I consider it a great way to make up for him going to his mom’s house for dinner. That said, I’ve made this twice. The first time I held back and didn’t use much salt. This definitely needs a heavier hand with the salt. But it is delicious. And yes, Pearl, it makes great leftovers.

I started to make the crust tonight for the tart and had a hard time getting it together so I used a little water. I’m hoping it all comes out okay. Any thoughts on how to get the dough together without using water?

We made this tonight for the first time tonight. Sounded delicious. Unfortunately lacks a lot of flavor. Nice idea, but the blandness of the potatoes is not overcome by the sharpness of the blue cheese. Needs some more depth and some more salt! I’d be willing to try it again, but trying to think of a tasty ingredient that adds flavor without changing the original dish. Like I said….more salt for sure, but I’m thinking instead of heavy cream, which brings nothing to this dish, perhaps cream of cheese soup? or something in that vein.

Just made this with my best friend and her sister last weekend! Fabulous! We used rosemary on top, and served with braised brussel sprouts (when it’s girls’ night, you eat what you like). I will definitely make it for my hubby!

I made this over the weekend and it’s amazing!!! My only frustration was the tart crust, I made it twice and twice it went in the trash. Was I doing something wrong?? I added no water to the first batch because there was no water in the recipe. Kneaded it for about 3-4 minutes … nothing, tried to roll it and it just fell apart. Made it again with some water and kneaded it… same thing, just looked way to dry and cracked the whole time I rolled it. Alas… I reverted to an old standby from a Williams-Sonoma baking book which is sweet. The tart was amazing with the blue cheese and potatoes. My guests and my husband loved it! I will make it again and try to make my tart shell recipe more savory. What could have gone wrong with the other… :(

Abby, I just made this today and same thing with the dough. I think it’s just a bad recipe for dough or something was left out. Mine was barely holding together. I just added water and it seemed to be ok.

Hi Deb, this looks amazing! I think I’ll swap out the blue cheese for soft goat cheese and add sauteed leeks and thyme… I had something similar on a cruise as an appetizer and have been thinking about it ever since. So thanks!!!

Thanks for this recipe. I kept making Martha Stewarts’ egg cups in the muffin tin…and it was getting a little old. This was a pleasant surprise on my Mother’s Day brunch table. My home is full of carnivores, so, I precooked some breakfast sausage, ground it up, and sprinkled it on top, and then added the blue cheese, eggs, and cream. DELICIOUS! I didn’t realize you had placed a “savory tart shell” recipe, and assumed I had to use the quiche one…I used the one on your leek and mushroom quiche and I did not pre-bake (I didn’t have time!), and it worked out beautifully. Thanks again….I’m a big fan of ALL you do. Happy Mother’s Day!

Hi, Deb: I have an abundance of red/blue/yellow organic potatoes from my garden and would like to freeze this tart to serve later on. Do I bake it ahead of time or just put the ingredients into an unbaked pie crust, wrap and freeze?

I made this for dinner tonight. I never make pastry but it was very easy even by hand and rolled out fine. I nearly didn’t trust you on the ‘no need to blind bake’ but have done a couple of your recipes before so decided to risk it. It was lovely. I used some ‘cave aged rocquefort’ to add a little preteniousness :)

It’s too hot to turn on our oven in the evenings now so I made this morning and am letting cool on counter and keep until tonight’s dinner. Looked so good/cannot wait to try. Used a combination of feta and blue cheeses and realized my heavy cream was actually half and half. Still baked up beautifully. To the previous poster who doesn’t own a tart pan, I don’t either and used an old baking sheet that is probably 10×14 with a 1/2″ depth. The dough stretched to fit just fine. Yum! What a great summer recipe.

Ahhhhnnnd…that beautiful tart that I left to cool on the counter and save for dinner was 100% delicious–according to our dog! How is it that we’ve had her for 11 years and I STILL FORGET that you can’t leave food out on the counter? Will have to make again in the near future for the humans. :-)

Made this tart today using Maytag blue cheese and sage, rosemary, and lemon thyme from the garden. The only changes I made were to sprinkle about 1/2c of very thinly sliced fresh red onion (from local farmers market). I did have to add about 2t of cold water to the dough so it was soft enough to roll. I use King Arthur APF which tends to require a bit more liquid than some other brands.

I served a wedge of it alongside a tomato and basil salad and a properly grilled ribeye. We enjoyed this all with a 2007 Chateauneuf-du-pape.

Bottom line – what a great recipe. So easy to make and what a fantastic dish.

We made this for brunch today, it was lovely. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it would be great with or without the tart shell, but the hubs really liked the shell. Whoever said “don’t skimp on the cheese” was right. I bought a 5oz tub of Danish blue cheese, which was creamy and mild, and we just dumped the whole thing on there, so it was about a cup and a half. I’m not a blue cheese fan, and I loved this. We served it with breakfast brats from our local butcher (stuffed with bacon and cheese) and it was a hit. Next time – and there will be a next time – I might slip the brats out of the casings and just crumble them in with it.

Made this today for brunch! Didn’t have blue cheese so I used gruyere. One thing I learned: when subbing in a cheese that’s not as strong and funky as a blue cheese, compensate by adding more flavor elsewhere (or just more cheese!). I didn’t think about this ahead of time and the tart came out needing a bit more flavor. The texture was great, though. I would have probably just upped the herbs and flavored the potatoes directly before layering them in the tart.

That said, I’ll probably try this again the same way with “freshly dug” potatoes when the ground thaws. I have a hunch that this recipe as is would allow really flavorful, fresh, potato-y potatoes to shine!

i made this last night, and it was SO good. so good. we had it alongside bloody mary marinated flank steak (using the marinade from this recipe) and a big green salad.

we have locally grown red and yellow potatoes sold in the grocery store that i usually get, and i had fresh rosemary & thyme i used for the herbs. for the cheese, get this – i only recently heard of cambozola cheese, which is basically gorgonzola brie. and it happened to be on sale this week. i grabbed a wedge that was just under a half pound, cut off the rind and used all that was inside. so it was like delicious blue cheese potatoes on top of baked brie. (i may or may not have eaten most of the rind bits with the potato ends i cooked along with the slices just in case i needed extra to fill in the tart.)

i made the shell using your recipe at the end of this one – i don’t bake and generally dough and i are not friends, but this is the 2nd SK dough i’ve tried and both have come out perfect (the first was the galette dough). i made mine in the food processor, and once the egg was mixed in it looked exactly like a bowl of yellow cake crumbs. i dumped the pile onto the counter but when i squished the crumb pile with my hands…presto, it was dough! i rolled it out and then put it in a 9″ glass pie plate (no tart pan) and simply took the dough that hung over and patched the areas that were short. everything baked up beautifully, i had no spillage and while you’re right, it’s not quiche, there was no liquid or anything runny. as with any pie the first piece was a beautiful mess, but all slices after that were perfect.

This looks looks like fabulous addition to my brunch repertoire. Wondeing if some thinly sliced carmelized onions would be nice to add in giving a little sweetness to balance the savory. I can’t wait to try this!

Just made this tonight – delicious!!! For some reason the heavy whipping cream was a bit too much volume so I may tone it down next time. Also I want to try adding some kielbasa sausage or something similar! Overall the flavors of this were ON POINT!!

I made this using whole wheat flour, milk instead of cream, added lots of baby leeks and some rings of onion on top… Mozzarella. It’s a great recipe! I have little kids and they loved helping arrange the potatoes and herbs and cheese. Great dinner with a fresh salad as Deb suggests! Thanks, as always, Deb!

In the spirit of turning everything into sheet-pan style food, I was wondering if this would translate well into a large sheet pan version. I’m concerned it may be too runny based on your description of the consistency. Any ideas/suggestions?

I hate to say this because I love love love your recipes. This one is a REAL DUD. First, the tart crust. Wow. I made it three times — each time a total, dry disaster. Finally, I add a tablespoon of water and got it to come together enough to get it into the pie plate. Then the filling. I baked this for an hour and a half and it never moved beyond liquid. The tastes were awesome but I just can’t help but think there is something seriously off with this recipe!

Do you think I could make this without the egg, so it’s more just like potatoes and blue cheese and cream (almost like a gratin?). I don’t like eggs/custard/anything remotely quiche-esque but it otherwise looks so fantastic so I’m thinking of trying it without the egg!

I made it like this once due to no eggs and being lazy. Added some butter, cut the total amount of liquid by a lot (maybe half?) and whisked in a bit of cornstarch. It was quite runny, but still yummy! I have made this several times (minus the homemade tart crust because again, lazy) and find that the overwhelming deliciousness of the cream plus potatoes plus blue cheese combo is pretty forgiving. For example, this dish also doesn’t mind especially if I happen to have some bacon crumbles around to sprinkle on top, or if I’m in NO MOOD to separate egg yolk from egg white. It’s really the best.